3 Chapter 2 London Lawyer

Chapter 2 London Lawyer Mohandas Gandhi packed up and said good-bye to his family, including Kasturbai and their new baby son, Harilal. He headed to Bombay, India, where he would board a ship to London, England. Before he left Bombay,

the leaders of the Modh Bania caste called him into a meeting. Traveling overseas was against the caste’s rules. They thought he would be tempted to break the rules of Hinduism while in England. If he went, then he would be kicked out of the Modh Bania caste and treated as an untouchable. Courageously, Gandhi still went. He was only eighteen years old when he set sail from Bombay on September 4, 1888.

Gandhi had a hard time fitting into a country so unlike his own. “Everything was strange—the people, their ways, and even their dwellings,” he later wrote. He tried hard to become an “English gentleman.” He spent a lot of money on a new suit, a top hat, silver-tipped cane, and leather gloves. He took lessons in manners, dance, French, and violin, like other Englishmen. But none of that helped his loneliness and homesickness. Eating in London was hard for Gandhi, too. Before he left India, he had promised his mother that he would not eat meat. But finding vegetarian meals in London was difficult. Since Gandhi was

shy, he didn’t ask his hosts or waiters if they could make other choices for him. Vegetables tasted bland without the spices of home.

THE CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA IN TRADITIONAL HINDUISM AND INDIAN CULTURE, PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT SOCIAL LEVELS, OR CASTES. RELIGIOUS PRIESTS AND TEACHERS MADE UP THE HIGHEST CASTE CALLED BRAHMANS. NEXT CAME KSHATRIYAS, THE WARRIORS AND ROYALTY. GANDHI’S FAMILY BELONGED TO THE NEXT CASTE—THE VAISHYAS—IN A SMALLER SUBGROUP CALLED THE MODH BANIAS. THE VAISHYA CASTE INCLUDED LANDOWNERS, MERCHANTS, AND FARMERS. THE SUDRAS MADE UP THE LOWEST CASTE. THESE WERE WORKERS AND CRAFTSMEN. PEOPLE COULD NOT MARRY MEMBERS OUTSIDE THEIR CASTE. THEY WERE NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO SHARE A MEAL WITH THEM!

ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE WERE CONSIDERED SO LOW, THEY WERE OUTSIDE THE CASTE SYSTEM. THEY WERE CALLED UNTOUCHABLES. UNTOUCHABLES HAD THE DIRTIEST JOBS, SUCH AS SWEEPING STREETS, CLEANING UP HUMAN WASTE, AND HANDLING GARBAGE. IN 1950, UNTOUCHABLES WERE GIVEN EQUAL RIGHTS UNDER LAW. TODAY, THE TERM DALIT REFERS TO THOSE ONCE CALLED UNTOUCHABLES. THE CASTE SYSTEM IS NO LONGER A PART OF THE EVERYDAY FABRIC OF MODERN INDIA. AND EVEN THOUGH DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DALIT INDIVIDUALS IS AGAINST THE LAW, MANY STILL FACE PREJUDICE, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS.